Black Lilies, White Roses
by Shiina Kurenai
Summary: Two muggle girls, shoved through a magical barrier into a world they never knew existed. One has a mysterious past, the other a terrifying gift. (No, I did not steal this from Ming Li, as I AM her.)
1. Falling Is Like This

Disclaimer: I own nofink but Lili and Poswet and Kendra, who, as a matter of fact, are based off friends of mine and thus.. own themselves.. so.. I own.. NOTHING! I shall go cry now.  
  
WARNING: Lili and Poswet are LESBIANS. They are in a relationship, but it is nothing graphic. It's only talked about and the closest they ever get is hugging. If something that mild disturbs you, uh, don't read this. And if you don't like Draco/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, and Harry/Cho, you probably won't like it either. This has lots and lots of swear words in the later chapters as Kendra gets a bigger role.  
  
Author's note: One thing. There is a reason Dumbledore allows them in so easily; he kind of knew this was going to happen. I won't say how or why, except that Dumbledore is a cool old geezer, and he.. knows stuff.   
  
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September first. A crowd gathered around a crimson train, blowing clouds of silvery steam.  
Children, teenagers, adults. All clad in black robes. Black hats. The day was cold. Wet, gray, rainy.. it altogether sucked. The people were emerging from the train -- almost amusing in their strangeness. How alien they were to eyes unused to the cohesive way they all connected.  
Yet, two students appeared out of the normal.   
One was oddly small among the sea of darkness.. for she wore nothing but a white, silk dress, sleeveless and falling to her mid-calves. It clung to her upper body, and flared at the waist, offsetting caramel skin. A long sheet of pitch-black hair fell to her mid-back. Steely gray eyes seemed out of place in an otherwise perfect face.  
The other was entirely odd-looking. Her hair was dyed a sort of faded, faintly violet, black color. Chunks of red fell along the back and sides. Streaks of gold-orange framed her face, the roots of her hair, and random piece-y strands. It fell to about her collar in a Ransom style cut. Altogether an intricate ordeal. Her eyes were brown and her skin pale. She wore an army-green pleated skirt and cream colored sleeveless top with two holes to show patches of skin. Pump shoes, the color of the top, adorned her feet. She wore olive and black fishnets, even over her shoes, which was an odd mix. She also wore some make-up (consisting of lipgloss, olive-brownish eyeliner, and gray eyeshadow), unlike the other girl, who didn't need any.  
A pale boy with a pointed face sneered at them as he went by.  
"Transfer students, I see.. weirdos, at that." He flickered his gaze over the fishnetted one's legs.  
"Hey! Knock off the gawking, you pervert!" Her voice was very feminine, but aggressive. She sounded much younger than she really was. She advanced at him, only to be stopped by the other girl's melodic, lower voice. A latina accent was obvious  
"Leave it, Poswet."  
"Hn." She gave the boy a dirty look.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way!" cried a huge, shaggy-bearded man suddenly, yelling by a bunch of rowboats. Poswet and her friend ignored him.  
"Lili, what're we gonna *do*? How'd we get here? All I remember is that dumb kid with glasses and his friend knocked onto us, and then we decided to board that stupid train.. whose idea was that, anyway?" Poswet said this all very fast.  
"Yours," responded the white-clad girl, who was named Lili, apparently.  
"Oh. Damn it." She sighed.  
"Hey, hurry it up!" Everyone had gotten onto carriages, and a red-headed boy stuck his head out of one to yell at them.  
"Huh?" Poswet looked over. "Oh! It's YOU! You and your dumb friend knocked into us! It's your fault we're here!"  
"What are you talking about! Get in the carriages, you lot!"   
Lili looked at her friend with an unreadable expression. "I suppose we'd better get on, then. At least they'll take us somewhere."  
"Yeah." Reluctantly, they boarded the carriages -- Lili noticing that there were no horses, but not commenting.  
"Are you two transfer students, or something?" The redheaded boy looked around at them.  
"What's all this about 'transfer students'? It's still summertime, in Canada!" protested Poswet, eyeing the redhead curiously.  
"Oh, you're Canadians? I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Harry Potter." The other boy looked around at them.  
"Heeyyy." Poswet leaned forward til her forehead was nearly touching his. "Cool scar."  
"Uh.." He looked at her oddly.  
"Oh.." The girl grinned. "I'm Poswet To, and this is--"  
Her friend cut her off. "Clarissa Crucita Dahlia Limoniz Corazon Delcine Montoya. They call me Lili."  
"Lemonize?" Ron looked entirely confused.  
"Lili," said the hispanic girl firmly.  
"You're not Canadian, are you? I'm Hermione Granger, by the way." A girl with curly brown hair looked over at them.  
"I was born in Mexico. I live in Canada now, though."  
It was Poswet's turn to interrupt.  
"Where in God's name are we?"  
Hermione raised an eyebrow.  
"You're on the carriage to Hogwarts, obviously. We're nearly there." She pointed out the window at the castle looming above.  
"Holy shit!" Poswet swore, practically hanging out the window, trying to get a better look. Lili pulled her back in, deftly (rather like she was used to the girl's impulsiveness), observing the castle with cool indifference.  
"What's Hogwarts?"   
Hermione looked surprised. "You mean you don't know?"  
"Evidently not, if I'm asking." Stress made the white-clad girl sharp.  
Hermione looked a bit affronted, but responded anyway.   
"It's a *school*, for Witchcraft and Wizardry.. How did you get here without knowing that? And for that matter, where are your robes?"  
Lili stared at her, testing to see if she was serious. Much to her annoyance, she found Hermione to be so.  
"Don't they have Witchcraft schools in Canada? You must be magic, if you can see the castle. Why were you in London, anyhow?" asked Harry.  
Poswet answered instead of Lili.  
"If Lili believes this story you're telling us, I suppose I should too.. They must not have schools like this in Canada.. We were in London on vacation, we were supposed to take the train down to the airport to get home.. Christ, what are we going to do?"  
"You should talk to Professer Dumbledore as soon as you get in," Harry said. Hermione nodded in agreement. Ron was still staring at Lili and Poswet, dumbstruck. Probably at the length of Lili's name -- he didn't seem to have registered much after that.  
"And we're here, now.." They clambered out of the carriage, each person grabbing their luggage. Lili had a suitcase and a satchel. Poswet had not one, but two guitar cases, presumably with guitars inside (although one bulged suspiciously as if she'd stored clothing within, instead), a black backpack, and a sheath slung over her back, sword inside.  
They trooped up to the school. Harry spotted Dumbledore immediately and ran over.  
"Professer? Um, there's been an incident.. two muggles from Canada somehow got through the barrier, onto the train, and they can see the castle!"  
Dumbledore looked over at them. His eyes acquired their familiar twinkle.  
"Well, Harry, would you ask your new friends to please speak to me as soon as possible?"  
"Yes, sir." Harry scurried back over to Lili and Poswet and informed them.  
As the corridor emptied, only Dumbledore and the two girls were left remaining. Lili felt a great power emanating from the man, while Poswet felt that he was immensely amused with this situation.  
In fact, both were true.  
Introductions were made and situations explained. Dumbledore was thoughtful a moment, then smiled.  
"Do either of you know anything about magic?"  
They shook their heads, Lili eyeing the man skeptically.  
"The institute in Salem isn't too far from Canada.." he said thoughtfully.  
"Americans don't like us much," Poswet said suddenly, frowning.  
Dumbledore nodded, his smile growing.  
"Would you like to attend school here? We'd have to give you tutors, but you could be sorted in about.. ten minutes. I will ask your head of house to take you to get supplies."  
This was quite unexpected. Lili and Poswet exchanged glances, and responded in unison.  
"Yes."  
"I'd have to write my mum and da, thought," the taller girl added after a long pause.  
"Very well, that's settled then!" Dumbledore said brightly, as if he had been expecting all this. "You may be sorted. I suggest you follow the first years.." He indicated a bunch of terrified eleven year olds on the other side of the hall - "..to the Sorting."  
"The sorting?" whispered Poswet as they walked towards the first years. Dumbledore had disappeared, Lili noticed.  
Lili waited patiently for her name to be called.   
"Montoya, Crucita." They had just randomly chosen one of her many names, since nobody wanted to attempt to pronounce 'Limoniz.'  
When she walked into the hall, there was a sudden murmuring, whispers, the crowds around her breaking into disarray. Voices echoed. Gazes were locked on the angelic, cruel young woman in her white silk dress. She heard a voice saying quietly, '*Crucita?* Definitely a Slytherin.'  
She turned, looking over her shoulder slightly, with that same cold, elegant smile playing over perfect features.  
The boy who had spoken stepped back suddenly, as if she'd threatened him somehow. Yet she hadn't spoken a word.  
She resumed walking, and slid onto the stool.  
The hat covered her eyes, and she heard another voice, right near her ear.  
"My, my.. you are an interesting creature, aren't you..? You're blocking your thoughts very well.."  
She closed her eyes and listened to the hat.  
"Quite the ice maiden.. I don't see ambition.. definitely wit, but it's used to destroy others. You seem like the stereotypical Slytherin, except you don't care about power.. No, you have enough of that already, don't you?"  
"Just get it over with," she murmured.  
"Well.. I get bored, you know.. and this should cause some excitement.. so we better have you be.. SLYTHERIN!"  
The last word elicited silence. The Slytherin table didn't look like it knew whether to be pleased or what. This would be the first muggle-born to be in Slytherin, ever, but she would probably be the first attractive female Slytherin in about ten years.  
The young woman slipped the hat off her head, walking slowly to a place next to silvery phantasm she supposed would be a ghost. No one moved aside for her.  
"To, Poswet!"   
The response was altogether different for the taller girl. As she skidded forward, plopping down unceremoniously on the stool and putting the hat on her head, Gryffindors looked at her with interest. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked mildly disturbed, and Slytherins just looked annoyed.  
The first thing she said to the hat was probably out of the ordinary.  
"I have a song stuck in my head!"  
"I see that.. The Gogos? Interesting," muttered the hat with barely concealed amusement.  
"So.. um.. what am I being sorted for?"  
"You'll see. Let's look here.. lots of bravery.. a tendency towards mischief.. And you're not good at studying at all.. you seem a bit flighty, and prone to having an attitude.. Slytherin is out of the question, as is Ravenclaw. You'd cause trouble in Hufflepuff.. so I think we'll put you in.. GRYFFINDOR!"  
The Gryffindor table cheered, and two redheaded twins gestured for her to sit by them. She happily threw the hat into the air and skipped over.  
"Nice hair," commented one. The other just grinned.  
"Thank you!" she chirped, smoothing her shirt. Two girls sitting directly behind her were tittering and mumbling about her over-the-shoes fishnet stockings and 'scandalously short' pleated skirt.  
"I gotta get robes soon.. The guy with the beard said so.."  
"You mean Dumbledore?"  
"Is that his name? Well.. I'm mad.. 'cause I wanted Lili to be in my house thingy thing.."  
"Who's Lili?" questioned one of the girls from behind them.  
"Oh, the girl in the white dress," Pos responded casually, not noticing the fact that the girl's eyes got big.  
"She's creepy!"   
"Yup." Poswet didn't seem to see that this was generally not a good thing. She changed subjects.  
"Is Dumbdoor going to talk to us?" She noticed taht the old man had stood up and was walking towards a podium.  
"Dumbledore.. and shh!"  
She hushed.  
"Students! Welcome to another year.. while you all are aware of the peril, I'm sure that will make you want to concentrate more on your studies, yes?" His eyes twinkled in amusement. Poswet smiled. She couldn't help but like the funky old guy. The other students made sounds of dissent about the studying thing, except, she noticed, Hermione Granger.  
"Well, either way, I am pleased to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Miss Kendra O'Malley."  
A woman with brown hair and hazel eyes stood up, nodding and smiling a little. She looked fairly normal, with small, silver, fashionable artsy-style glasses perched at the end of her nose. She wore robes with silver writing on the sleeves that looked Japanese.  
She waved a little, grinned, and sat back down, looking a bit flustered. Poswet noticed a rather demented-looking black-haired man was looking at her as if he'd like to severely injure her. Dumbledore smiled happily at them all as if he didn't notice any of this.  
"I trust you'll make her welcome. Now, I should let you fill your stomachs before you attempt to devour your plates. Feast!" He tapped his wand on the podium and sat down again.  
"I love that song," she said dreamily, heaping her plate with peppermint humbugs.  
"It's a song?" One of the twins looked confused.  
"Yeah! You know.. Millions of peaches, peaches for me.. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.." She sang a bit of it. She had a surprisingly nice voice, with a scratchy punk rock edge.  
"Never heard it."  
"Huh. Sucks to be you. Where's that kid with the cool scar?"  
"Harry?" queried the girl behind them.  
"Yeah.. Oh.. He's over there.. HI, HARRY!" She shouted, waving one hand (still clutching a peppermint humbug) like mad. Harry smiled nervously and waved back a little, even though the girl wasn't really that far away.  
"She's nutters," the girl behind them muttered.  
"So.." Poswet turned to the twins, looking at them curiously.  
"I'm George Weasley, and this is Fred.. We're not really related, he's just an imitator.."  
"I'm the cute one," said Fred, screwing up his face in an attempt to look girlish.  
"Okay.. Well, I'm Poswet.. Um.." She lowered her voice. "Would it be terribly rude if I threw a piece of pie at that snotty girl back there?"  
"You mean Parvati? She's not so bad.." George looked a little dreamy.  
"Uh-huh.." Poswet gave him a meaningful look.   
"Hey!" protested George.  
"Well.." Poswet crossed her ankles and looked around sneakily before grabbing half of her pie with one hand and throwing it at Parvati. It hit the other girl on the side of the face, and she shrieked angrily.  
"Who threw that?!"  
Poswet stuck her hand in Fred's pumpkin juice to get all the pie stuff off it.   
The twins just looked at her.  
"Poswet To, welcome to Gryffindor," they pronounced unison, with identical grins. Behind them, Parvati was still frantic. Several other Gryffindors were laughing at her.  
"Oh! It's time for bed!" Hermione, who had been quietly talking with Ron and Harry a few feet away, stood up.  
"Follow me, please!"  
Poswet blinked, noticing the "Prefect" badge on the other girl's robes.  
"What in God's almighty name is a prefect?" she whispered to George.  
"Hermione's excuse to boss us around," he muttered back.  
Hermione led them round and round the castle until they reached a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress.  
"The password is "Crookshanks," she informed them.  
"Oh, Hermione," Ron said in exasperation, "After your *cat?*"  
Hermione only shrugged as the portrait swung open (much to Poswet's surprise.  
"Come on," she said kindly to Poswet, "We've got a cot set up for you."  
"Spiffy-keen," said the taller girl, and followed Hermione up the stairs to a cot, where she promptly dropped her luggage on the floor and didn't bother to change, falling onto the cot and into a deep sleep.  
  
Meanwhile, things weren't going so well for Lili.  
The Slytherins were all gazing at her with malice they didn't bother to disguise. The teacher looked at her. Lili thought he was a rather interesting looking fellow, but personality-wise quite dull.  
"What did you say your nickname was?"  
"Lili."  
He took a moment to respond.  
"Lily..?"  
She regarded him with icy amusement.  
"Yes." And with that, she slipped through the portraithole, leaving him staring after her, wide-eyed and confused. 


	2. Ice Queen

Warnings, disclaimers, etcetera are the same. Oh, and I selected theme songs for my three made-up charas and one of Rowling-sama's :) Lili's is "Cruel" by Tori Amos, "What It Feels Like For A Girl" by Madonna for Poswet, "Tsumi to Batsu" by Shiina Ringo for Kendra. I took the liberty of tinkering with Blaise a bit, so her theme is "Girl" by Tori Amos.  
  
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Lili was jarred awake by the sound of several squealing girls. Blaise Zabini, a petite, curvaceous, dark-haired girl, was talking with Pansy Parkinson, a pug-faced blonde. Or rather, Pansy was talking at her, because Blaise was reading and not paying any attention. Lili narrowed her eyes and sat up.  
"Oh, you're up.. finally." Pansy gave her a disdainful glance. Lili didn't respond, much to the other girl's irritation.  
"You'd better hurry and shower.. after breakfast, we've got Charms. At least it's not with the stupid Gryffs.."  
Still no response. Lili stretched her long, bare legs and clambered out of bed.  
Pansy continued. "I noticed your weird little friend went to Gryffindor.. Hey! Say something, you stupid mudblood!" She was getting thoroughly pissed off at this stuck-up Muggle bitch who wasn't saying a *word*.  
"Something." She plucked her bag from the ground and wandered off to go shower.  
Upon returning -- in the same white dress she'd worn yesterday -- she spotted the Professer who had found her name so shocking.  
Gruffly, he spoke.  
"I'm to take you to Diagon Alley to get your things. Hurry up."  
"I'm ready," she said pleasantly, looking up at him.  
"Touch the fireplace, then, don't stand there dawdling."  
She felt curious, but it didn't show in her expression as she pressed her hand to the fireplace. She felt a jerking sensation in her stomach, a sense of whirling, and then she was..  
Where?   
Lili looked around. This couldn't have been where the Professer intended to take her.. A sign above her read "Knockturn Alley." She was positive he'd said "Diagon."  
Well, there was nothing to do but look around.  
She folded her arms over her chest and started walking. An unshaven, dirty young man leered at her as she walked by and began to follow her.  
She didn't look at him, but just kept moving. She saw a vague speck of brightness a ways away, and quickened her pace.  
"Whassa matter, girlie?" called the man in a hoarse, vulgar voice. "You think you're too good to talk to me?"  
She stiffened and slowed slightly.  
"That would be it." The ice in her voice made him narrow his eyes.  
"We don't like snobs here, little girl.." His voice lowered threateningly. Lili spun on her heel, her steely eyes glaring. They widened slightly when she saw the man reaching into the pockets of his frayed robes. Was he going to pull a gun on her?  
Thinking fast, she stamped one high-heeled shoe on his, twisting it into his sandaled foot. He yelled in shock and pain, and she gave him a vicious push. He landed with a sickening thud against a brick building.  
Darting her grey gaze around quickly to make sure no one was looking, she reached inside his robes and pulled out a long black stick. She gave it a skeptical glance. What was he going to do, poke her to death? She snapped it easily. Silver sparks flew out of it and faded. She threw the pieces on his body, noticing that his head was cracked open. She made no move to help him, but resumed walking.  
After she'd moved along for a while, she saw Snape running towards her, looking rather angry.  
"Come along," he said shortly. "You have a class in an hour."  
She nodded mutely and he led her along the twists and turns of Knockturn Alley, which eventually led to the money-changing booth at a tall building she assumed to be the bank. She observed that the Professer was less annoyed than she had expected. Perhaps he just didn't wish to make a scene in public. Either way, it didn't matter.  
She regarded the small, pointy man in the booth with some wariness.  
"How much?" she was asked, impatiently. She bent down and pulled a wad of bills out of her shoes, seperating the paper and dropping half onto the desk, while stuffing the remaining cash back in her shoe.  
The man eyed her oddly and busied himself with the many drawers in front of him. Soon she had a small pile of gold, silver, and bronze coins in front of her, which were then shoved into a bag.  
"Here's your money, miss," the man said, pleasantly enough now that she wasn't staring at him blankly. She took the bag carefully and turned towards Snape. He looked at her wordlessly and walked off towards a shop. She followed, obediently enough. The professer appeared to be holding in his anger. She wondered idly if she could get him to explode.  
"Your wand first," he said icily. A pale, short man with odd, silvery eyes came and peered at her.  
"Yes, yes.. bit late in the school year, isn't it? But.. what is your wand arm, dear?"  
"Pardon?" One black brow rose as she eyed him with an equally disconcerting gaze.  
"Which arm do you use for writing and things?"  
"My left." He nodded and had her hold her arm out and measured all sorts of things, while she stood like a stone and waited.  
"Now, let's try the first.." He pulled out one of those long black sticks, and she stiffened.  
"Must I get one of those things?" The man looked offended, and began to speak when Snape interrupted.  
"They're necessary! Do you think you're too good for regular wizarding gear? But of course, Little Miss Montoya is too good for Diagon Alley, too! She has to skulk around Knockturn Alley, ignore me -- would you SAY something?!" The irritated potionsmaster snarled at her.  
"Sure," she said absent-mindedly, not really paying him much attention. She had taken the wand from the box and given it a little wave. The wand man snatched it away and handed her another one.  
"No, let's try this.. twelve inches, unicorn hair and holly.." She had barely taken the wand from the box when he pulled it away again. Wand after wand she tried, the wandmaster looking happier with each wand. Soon a pile of wands had appeared and Lili was thoroughly annoyed.  
"You're certainly an unusual-looking girl, why not a different combination.. yes.. I think so.. eight inches, dragon heartstring and ebony, quite inflexible."  
She tentatively gave it a wave, and a bunch of silver and white sparks flew out the end. She regarded them with only a mild amount of interest.  
"How much?"  
"Nine galleons," he said, nicely enough.  
"..."  
"The gold ones."  
She dropped the coins into his open palm.  
The rest of the hour continued rather dully -- Lili was a bit annoyed with these black robes, finding them cumbersome and medieval, so she had requested that they be cut to be a bit more attractive. She had been rewarded with belled sleeves and skirts and a deep square neck. She felt vaguely like the evil witch out of some badly written fairy tale, only with more cleavage showing.  
Once they were back at Hogwarts, the Professer snapped at her to go to breakfast, he had a lesson plan to prepare. She nodded and moved along towards Great Hall, noticing, for the first time, the sky ceiling. Her eyes widened barely perceptibly, and then she looked around again. Where to sit?  



	3. Cherry Bomb

"Poswet.. Poswet, wake up.." A soft, feminine voice was intruding on her dreams. How rude. But it was a nice voice.  
"Mmmrpgh.." Poswet rolled over.  
"Poswet.. Poswet.. POSWET!"  
"Wha? Huh?! Where's the fire?" Pos sat up abruptly.  
"Poswet, it's eight, we have breakfast at ten.. you'd better hurry and get ready. I'm supposed to take you to Diagon Alley to get your things."  
"Yuh-huh," Poswet mumbled, grabbing her backpack and tottering to the bathroom.  
When she returned, she was more chipper, but still not totally awake. She wore a leather tank top with a star on the stomach and jeans with combat boots, her multicolored hair in two pigtails.  
Hermione eyed her oddly, but said nothing.  
"D'you have any money?"  
"Oh, yup!" Poswet grinned and pulled a wad of twenty pound notes out of her pocket. Hermione's eyes widened and she nodded.  
"That'll be good, then.. Now, I've cast a nice portkey charm on the headboard of my bed, so all you have to do is touch it.. Portkey charms are really rather interesting, if a bit complicated, you see, the incantation is --"  
"Yeah, Herm, that's great, can we go now?"  
"Oh. Yes. Just touch the headboard."  
Poswet petted the headboard a little and felt a jerk in her stomach and was pulled forward, landing in front of a huge building with a sign that said 'Gringrotts.' Hermione zoomed in a few moments later, nearly knocking into her.  
"Well," the shorter girl said breathlessly, patting her curly brown hair, "If you're ready, then, we may as well get your money exchanged.." She gestured to the money-changing booth. Poswet shouldered her way to the front of the line when a man with a sneer on his face and silver-blonde hair grabbed the back of her shirt.  
"Muggle-born! You knocked into me! Apologize!"  
Poswet looked a bit irritated and was about to respond when Hermione pulled her over. "Poswet," she hissed, "That's Lucius Malfoy.."  
And was rewarded with a blank stare  
Lucius gave Poswet a cold look, pulling out his wand.   
"Grovel, mudblood."  
".. You do realize that we're in public right now?"  
"Obviously," he sneered.  
"Dope."  
"What did you call me?!" He advanced upon her, grabbing her arm and preparing to grab his wand when she screamed.  
"HELP! I'm being attacked! Help, someone, please!"  
Hermione was aghast, as was Lucius. He shoved the girl away and backed up, looking around at the gathering crowd. A very tall looking man was moving towards Lucius with a stern expression.  
"You'll pay for this," he (Lucius, that is) snarled at an amused, if vaguely bewildered Poswet, backing into the crowd and disappearing with a pop.  
Poswet stared blankly at the spot where he'd been standing for a moment, then looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back.  
"Classic villain reparte?"  
"Yup."  
Poswet plunked her money down on the counter.  
"You're short," she observed, eyeing the pointy little man behind the booth.  
"I'm a goblin, miss," said the.. well, the goblin, as if this were the most obvious thing in the entire world.  
"Oh. Cool. I'm a faery."   
The goblin just looked at her until she became flustered and dragged Hermione away.  
"Now what?"  
"You need a wand.."  
"Is it sparkly?" The girl twisted her head around, owl-like, to regard Hermione with a dark, inquisitive gaze. She was undoubtedly more intelligent than she let on, Hermione thought, studying the lanky girl for a moment before shaking her head.  
"Come on.." She led her into Mr. Ollivar's shop, smiling.  
"Ah, Miss Granger, I remember--" he was cut off by Poswet's shriek.  
"SPARKLY!"  
"..And.. who might your friend be, Miss Granger?"   
"This is Poswet To.."  
"Hullo," Poswet said cheerfully, looking around.  
"Which is your wand arm, er, dear?"  
"I dunno!"  
"He means which hand do you write with," Hermione supplied, hiding her smile.  
"Oh. My right."  
Poswet grudgingly allowed Mr. Ollivar to measure her arms and whatnot, glaring at him all the while because she believed he was a 'wicked evil perv.'  
Mr. Ollivar selected a wand that he was completely positive would not suit Poswet.  
"Try this," he said, slapping the wand in her hand, "Phoenix feather and cherry, eleven inches."   
Poswet opted on poking Hermione with it. The wand made several exploding noises, and Mr. Ollivar blinked.  
"Well.. In all my time.." He shook his head, "I've never found someone find a wand so quickly.."  
Poswet shrugged. "How much?"  
"Seven galleons.."  
"And galleons would be..?"  
"These," Hermione said helpfully, pointing at the gold coins. Poswet dumped seven of them in Mr. Ollivar's open palm, and then they were off to get her robes.  
This is where Poswet's weirdness totally took over.  
"Pretty dresses!" shrieked the tall girl, glomping some black robes with six wings embroidered on the back - one in a dark gray with white opposite, one in green with blue opposite, one with silver and red opposite. Hermione eyed them skeptically.  
"Are you sure about these?"  
"YESYESYESYES!"  
Hermione sighed. "Very well, go buy them then."  
"Wheeeeee!" Poswet skidded over to the Madame and grinned at her madly.  
"I want this. They're pretty. They sparkle in the moonlight like many roan ponies."  
".. That's nice, dear." Madame took off the anti-theft spell and looked at Poswet.  
"Thirty galleons."  
Hermione looked aghast, but Poswet plunked the money down with a cheery grin and tugged the robes on over her clothes.  
"Look, I'm a wizard!"  
"No, you're a witch," Hermione corrected.  
"Wizard."  
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"  
Poswet just grinned.  
  
--  
  
Back at the castle, Poswet walked into the Great Hall, looking expectantly for a seat to open up magically before her. Instead, Fred Weasley waved at her, and she ran over and plunked down beside him, setting her bag on the seat on the opposite side.  
"No seat-saving, Poswet!" George said, flicking a bit of sausage at her.  
"Pft. It's for my Lili."  
"Your lily?"  
"Lili!" Poswet seemed a bit irritated.  
"Oh, yeah.."  
  



	4. Looking In

(A/N: I don't mean any offense by the British accent here. I'm well aware that they don't sound like that.. and that 'what the dilly' likely isn't a common phrase in the U.K, but hell, let Poswet have her fun ;) Thanks and much appreciation to all nine of my reviewers, LOL. Katy Schultz is also my creation. She'll be a minor character throughout the series, mainly for comic relief.)  
  
Poswet was gesturing wildly for Lily to come sit, so she moved over, noting that Poswet had her robes as well.  
"Niiiice," Poswet commented, eyeing her low neckline with amusement.  
Lili only smiled as she sank into a seat next to her girlfriend, looking at the shocked expressions of all the other Gryffindors.  
"Yes?" She queried, knowing full well why they looked so surprised.  
"You're a Slytherin.." One of the twins that looked like Ron said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
"And?"  
"And, you're supposed to be snobby and not want to have anything to do with Gryffindors."  
She merely shrugged, then noticed a sandy-haired boy staring at her chest. She nudged Poswet who shot him a deathglare. He didn't notice.  
"Wandering eyes, Seamus?" She snapped, rapping her fork sharply on the table. The boy, Seamus, blushed and looked back down at his plate.  
"Anyway, Lil, is that all you're going to have?" Lili was drinking pumpkin juice and eating toast. Poswet had piled her plate with melon and a pool of syrup.  
"Yes. It's better than sugar and fruit." Lili cast a critical eye at Poswet, who just shrugged and smiled, devouring the food rapidly. Lili ate daintily, but soon finished as well.  
"What class do you have first?"   
"Uh.. Herm?"  
Lili almost laughed at Poswet's academic cluelessness. She'd never been good at school, as concentration and *work* in general were a bore for her.  
"Care for magical creatures," Hermione said without looking up from her parchment.  
Abruptly, dozens of owls flew in through the windows. A large snowy one landed near Harry, and Poswet watched in fascination.  
"How beautiful," she breathed, watching the owl's brilliant, jewel-like eyes look around.  
"Her name is Hedwig," Harry mumbled around a mouth full of sausage, his eyes confused behind the glasses.  
"Poswet is unusually fond of animals.. particularly rare ones," Lili said. She herself had no attachment to them; that was how it was with her.  
"Oh, she'll do well in Care of Magical Creatures, then. Hagrid brings in all sorts of weird things. Usually dangerous, too." Ron managed to get this out between inhaling various dishes on the table. Well, he was a big kid.  
"Ya know what, I don't want this stuff," Poswet said abruptly, giving the breakfast a table a frown. "It sucks. I want *American* food."  
"Poswet.. you're not American."  
"I still want American food! Like waffles!"  
"I'm pretty sure waffles aren't just American," Hermione finally spoke more than two words, glancing at Poswet, "I've had them a time or two. I think they're just Muggle."  
"Oh, I see.. Well, I want Muggle food! Waffles and ice cream!" Poswet picked up her fork and spoon, held them in her fists, and started slamming the bottoms down on the table in rhythm.  
"Mug-gle food! Mug-gle food--" Before she could get any further, Lili snatched the silverware out of her hands.  
"Give it a rest, Poswet," the Hispanic girl grumbled, examining her wand. These things were so.. ugly. Too gaudy for her tastes. She threw it down on her plate.  
"Uhhm.. Lili?" The boy named Seamus queried hesitantly (he was rather afraid Poswet was going to hit him), "What are you doing with your wand?"   
"Getting rid of it," she responded pleasantly, covering it in syrup.  
"Oh, but you can't!" Hermione said, rather shrilly, "You can't do magic without them!"  
"They're tacky." Lili frowned at the wand obstinately.  
"C'mon, Li.." Poswet rested one hand on the other girl's bare arm. "I know they're ugly, but we gotta use them. Maybe we can turn it a better color later."  
"Well.. Perhaps," Lili relented, pulling the sticky wand from her syrup.  
Poswet smiled happily at her, and the corners of Lili's mouth creased slightly. The rest of Gryffindor table looked on in awe.  
"I'd better go get my things ready. Adios," Lili said casually, standing and straightening her robes.  
"'Bye! See you at lunch!" Poswet exclaimed, giving the slender girl a good-bye hug while sitting down.  
Lili walked off towards the dormitory.  
Poswet noticed the incredulous expressions of her fellow Gryffindors.  
"What?"  
"You're close friends with *Slytherin*, that's what," Ron said in disgust.  
Poswet rolled her eyes.  
"Oh, honestly, who cares?"  
"I do," Ron responded hotly, "And furthermore you--"  
"Let me get a look at those first years!" Poswet interrupted, leaping from her seat.  
"Strange little girl," Angelina Johnson muttered as Poswet grabbed Harry by the arm to go inspect the first years.  
"Definitely," agreed George Weasley, who then attempted to steal a kiss from Angelina and got a slap in return. Laughter erupted from the fifth-and-sixth year section of the table.  
Meanwhile, Harry was looking at Poswet in confusion.  
"Why'd you drag me over here?"  
"'Cause I don't know anything about first years," she said cheerfully, ruffling his hair.  
"Righto, up in line, firsties," she said cheerfully, kicking over a chair.  
One particularly mischievious looking first-year girl with blondish-brown responded by throwing a grape at her.  
"Oi, you!" Poswet tossed the grape back at her. "What's your name, bally chap?" She adopted a stiff British accent.  
"Katy Schultz.. Sir!" The first-year said with a sharp salute.  
"Cheerio, bally good show, what the dilly, wot!" exclaimed Poswet. After a few more minutes of this outrageous accent and Katy Schultz imitating a terrible Canadian-mingled-with-Southern-belle accent, the majority of the first and second years were in hysterics.  
Harry just laughed, watching Poswet's antics. She and the hyper first year had climbed up on the table and were twirling each other about; the younger girl had a little difficulty due to Poswet's height.  
Snape swept by and shot them both an icy look.  
"You two! What are your names?"  
"Olga Whiterose," Poswet responded immediately. Katy giggled.  
Snape narrowed his eyes.  
"And you?" He snarled at Katy.  
"Belle Silverstar.. SIR!" Katy repeated her earlier salute. The first years were now dying from laughter, since they knew very well that Katy and Poswet were lying through their teeth. Snape thought they were laughing at him and glared even more fiercely (if possible).  
"Get off the table! Detention for the both from you, and ten points from Gryffindor." He swept off towards the Hufflepuff table to pick on some unsuspecting third-years who were throwing peanuts.  
"Greasy mother--" Poswet trailed off into obscenities as she and Katy leapt from the table.  
"Well, at least we don't have to go to detention," Katy said brightly. Poswet looked at her and nodded slowly.  
"Yes.. There's that! I think you and I are of a kindred spirit, Silverstar," she slung an arm around her companion with a mischievious grin at the Gryffindor table.  
Hermione came around, tittering with disapproval.  
"Come on, it's time to go to class.. Do hurry, won't you? You won't need your books, Poswet, this class is all hands on.. I do hope you'll be able to pay attention.."  
Poswet rolled her eyes.  
"Yes, mother. See ya, Silverstar." She gave Katy an exaggerated wink before looping her arm through Hermione's.  
"Isn't that first-year's last name Schultz?"  
"Yup. Hurry, Herm, we're off to see the wizard!" She attempted to skip, but Hermione was reluctant and she soon stopped.  
"Damn. Foolish mortal!" Poswet said, not at all irritated, swatting cheerfully at Hermione's ponytail.  
"You're so weird, Poswet," Hermione grumbled, stepping away from her new charge, who happened to be gnawing on her wand at that moment, sending white sparks at some passing Slytherin second-years who shot them hostile looks. Poswet made vague meowing noises at them until they skittered down the hall.  
"Come, Hermione! To the wizard!"  
Sighing, Hermione allowed herself to be dragged down the hallway. 


End file.
